SS: Hitlerjugend: The History of the Twelfth SS Division 1943-45 (The Waffen SS Divisional Histories Series)

The divisions of the Waffen-SS were the elite of Hitler’s armies in WWII. SS-Hitlerjugend is an in-depth examination of the unit formed in 1943 from veterans of the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Division and members of the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) organization. The majority of the recruits were 17-years-old fanatically devoted volunteers. The book explores the background of the unit’s formation, the type of young men it recruited, the key figures involved in the division, and its organization. It also looks at the division’s uniforms and insignia. SS-Hitlerjugend provides a full combat record of the division, which fought on both fronts in World War II. The book outlines the unit’s involvement in the defense of Normandy, the battle for Caen and the slaughter of the Falaise Pocket, as well as its service on the Eastern Front at the end of the war and the fight to recapture Budapest. Illustrated with rare photographs, and with an authoritative text, SS-Hitlerjugend is a definitive history of one of Germany’s most fanatical fighting units of World War II.